91̽»¨

• Benchmark 20: Increase the percentage of paper products on campus that include post-consumer recycled content. Target not met​.

• Benchmark 24: Encourage use of sustainable and/or recyclable materials and containers in place of polystyrene by developing environmentally preferable purchasing guidelines. Preferable Purchasing Guidelines Created​.

• Benchmark 28: Increase purchase of non-food local goods and services and environmentally preferable goods. Alternative baseline determined​.

• Benchmark 29: Increase purchase of environmentally preferable computer products. Target exceeded​.

• Benchmark 31: Develop sustainability guidelines for concessionaires and franchisees. Target in progress.&²Ô²ú²õ±è;​

Benefits of the Goal

• Improved reputation
• Reduced emissions
• Increased community engagement
• Increased economic activity
• Improved human health
• Reduced operational costs

Costs of the Goal

• Staff time
• Capital cost

Goal: Increase purchasing of sustainable and/or recycled products across a range of categories:

• Increase the use of recycled paper from 7% to 50%
• Increase the use of EPEAT Gold Electronics (as defined in ) from 94% to 95%
• Increase the use of Green Cleaning Products (as defined in the ) from 51% to 65%
• Increase the use of Alternative Fuel Vehicles (as defined in the  )from 1.4% to 3%
• Increase the use of battery-powered lawn care products from 0% to 50%
• Increase the number of Concessionaires / Franchisees with Sustainable Purchasing (to be defined in 2020 OHIO Sustainable Purchasing guidelines) in contract​ to 100%
• Increase the total sustainable purchases (to be defined in 2020 OHIO Sustainable Purchasing guidelines) to 30%

• Review and revise existing sustainability purchasing guidelines to direct progress toward sub-goals.​

• Educate University purchasers on benefits of, and encourage use of, sustainability purchasing guidelines, both for bid and non-bid purchases. &²Ô²ú²õ±è;​

• Create model RFP criteria and protocol for bid purchases and evaluation tools for non-bid purchases, and include carbon emissions as criteria​

• Incorporate sustainability practices into contracts for concessionaires and franchisees​

• Develop strategies to monitor non-centralized purchasing, especially post-consumer content in paper purchasing​

• Mark vendors or products meeting certain sustainable criteria in BobcatBuy to incentivize increased sustainable procurement​

• Create bi-monthly sustainable purchasing group meeting to monitor progress​

• Develop an assessment tool for social return on investment, especially for local purchases​

Sustainable Purchasing Best Practices

Best Practice Table

Product Standard

Disposal Guidelines

• When a good is no longer desired, the owner must contact Moving and Surplus to have the product entered into the University's surplus inventory.
• Moving and Surplus may deem the product inappropriate for surplus inventory. In such a situation, the user will make a good faith effort to repurpose or recycle the product. Recycling pick-up can be requested by emailing the Office of Refuse and Recycling at recycle@ohio.edu.
• All electronic products should be disposed of at campus-designated locations for electronic waste

Hub Supported Initiatives

Initiative (Lead department/Unit)	SCAP Alignment
Participation in Pouring Rights RFP process (Procurement) Public bid process to choose new beverage supplier for 91̽»¨ Culinary Services and Athletics.  Director of Sustainability on RFP committee.	Increase purchasing of sustainable and/or recycled products across a range of categories. (100% of concessionaires have sustainable purchasing in contract by 2026).
Culinary Services Local Food Procurement (Culinary Services) Culinary Services is a key player in the Sugar Bush grant-funded Farm to Ohio Working Group focusing on local food systems and local food procurement.  Office of Sustainability staff support this working group.	Increase purchasing of sustainable and/or recycled products across a range of categories (also see the Food theme of the Sustainability & Climate Action Plan).
Triple Bottom Line Tool	Triple Bottom Line Cost-Benefit Analysis (TBL-CBA) working group, a group of students, faculty, and staff who meet weekly to create a cost-benefit analysis tool to evaluate projects in the SPL.
Sustainable Procurement Group	A group of stakeholders in procurement across multiple OHIO offices and departments that discuss progress, challenges, and solutions that promote the goals within the Sustainability & Climate Action Plan.
Green Purchasing Reports	Aggregation reports submitted to the university by potential vendors that detail total numbers of sustainable purchasing within their portfolio.

Hub-Related Initiatives 

• EPEAT Gold computer purchases
  • The University's Bobcat Depot purchases only EPEAT certified computers and laptops.
• RFP Sustainability language
  • The University's RFP template contains requirements to provide sustainability information in all bid proposals.
• Social Enterprise Ecosystem
  • The Social Enterprise Ecosystem (SEE Appalachia) is a project that seeks to make positive changes to health and wellness, education and the environment. SEE assists social enterprises, which combine the social mission of a nonprofit with the market-driven approach of a business, with financing and operational sustainability in every stage, from start-up to eventual growth and expansion. 

OHIO Experts